User:Tristan Miller/Diary
Also see my blog for a good time.
Needed: More Time, 12/02/2007
Hi. I've been incredibly busy lately sorting out Mindcloud web stuff...attempting to make the thing somewhat cohesive and presentable before O-week, at which time I hope to start a club at Flinders. I had no this task would absorb nearly all of my available hours, and there were an awful lot of those.
Here's what I've been doing:
- Making the interface for mindcloud.org (the "Main Interface"): this has required me to gain mo skills in graphic design, HTML and CSS. This has consumed the bulk of my time.
- Setting up the forums at Forklift: the actual setup wasn't too bad, but trying to muck around with PHP-MySQL code in order to have the system randomly allocate ranks has proved to be a big time-sink.
- Trying to get a category search tool for the wiki - at the moment there is no way to search for various combinations of categories, which limits the use of the Content Library.
Stuff that I still need to do in the next day or two:
- Find a way to get cheap badges made for fundraising
- Re-engineer the Main Page of the wiki to be more revealing of the content therein (actually it would be good if somebody else could have a crack at it)
- Gathering at least ten Flinders students so we can start a Mindcloud Club at that university
- Improving the "news" page at the mindcloud.org main interface
Lesser priorities:
- Design new skin(s) for the wiki and forums that are similar in style to the main interface. Kind of a "consistent look and feel" thing.
It's not too bad, really. Better than spending all of that spare time playing video games and finding new ways to scratch my arse...
Tristan
Whinging tech note: Apple ruined my shit, 28/01/2007
The other day, I installed a program on the iPod called Rockbox, directed to me by a Mr Michael Ashman, whom I am now indebted to till the end of time or untill the universe reaches maximum entropy (which ever comes last). Rockbox is basically an open-source replacement for the existing jukebox software, and it turned out to be superior in many respects. A casual reformatting of the iPod was required, which meant that I had to load all of my music on there once again.
The iPod is usually updated using iTunes, it has to be if the music is to be playable. This is because the Apple software on the iPod has no file browser, and because iTunes stows the tunes away in some crazy way. The mp3s are renamed with four-letter references, then split up randomly between numbered folders. Seemingly some sort of database keeps track of what is what - a method of preventing unauthorised copying of the files.
The new software has the ability just to find any music on the iPod and build a database from that...so it is possible to have a logical folder structure. This would also allow easy copying of files from the device. I hadn't yet fully tested Rockbox, so I thought I would be better off keeping the Apple file-mash. This turned out to be a mistake!
I discovered a rather nasty element of Apple's war on piracy - upon copying some music onto the iPod from my parents' computer, all of the music I had on there was immediately erased. That's 13GB of music, with which I was hoping to set the mood during my 10 hour trainride back to Adelaide. The other tragic thing about this is that it took almost a day to get those files on the mp3 player, thanks to the USB 1.1 connection on my music computer! Sneakily, iTunes only deletes the files, not the database - so the deed is only discovered later, when the user attempts to listen to their non-existent tunes.
Now I might just sound like any other pirate who has been foiled by copy protection, and some of you might say, "serves you right!" Had I been warned by iTunes that I was about to lose 13GB of data, I might have agreed with you in a minor way. At that point I probably would have balanced the pros and cons of what I was about to do. Any other program would warn you if you were about to delete existing files. But here, iTunes makes the assumption that you are trying to pull an illegal stunt, and wipes the device without a mention. What if you had thousands of public domain tracks, or personal creations, or something of that nature? Many of the things I had on there did in fact fit into that category, being made by friends, family and myself. Bah Christ!
So yes, crudtastic.
Whinge completed.
Time to upgrade, 27/12/2006
Version 7.0 officially released today.
Notes:
TRISTAN v7.0 is the newest, but probably not the final iteration of Tristan's adaptive-organic supercomputer software.
This upgrade adds/restores certain functions, most notably:
* the ability to make good use of steaming buckets of free time * enhanced (enchanted?) rudeness * a "new approach" to prophetic and pontific speech module design, with higher throughput of thrown stones * improvements to bastard detection
and
* new innovations to the 'use actual knowledge to give crackpot theories credibility' engine (GORMIPLEX™2000©)
These are some of the major overhauls in what is a package of revisions to make life more interesting for everyone within range of a bottle throw (increasing daily with new exercise routines). TRISTAN v 7.0 comes endorsed with an Honours degree in Physics.
This has nothing to do with New Year's res., promises, personal vision or life-goals. It is a compatibility upgrade effective immediately to slimly reduce the probability of a mental overheat during Orbit 24. Please note that the Same Old Kernel will continue unaffected, no upgrades were necessary due to its inpenetrable security and scrutineering.
To put it in ridiculous terms, this is yet another example of mind over mind, a mentality warping itself into a Klein bottle of fractal intra-ideology. Pouring itself out over its own surface, it defies traditional geometric arguments in a wonderful landscape of blazing wireframe and circular references. In a flourish, the whole thing becomes liquid metal and drips into the void, skittering in all directions across the broken space-time. Then, as if by sheer determination, the drops begin to converge - one by one they freeze into a four-dimensional sculpture of such beautiful shape. For a brief moment you see its true form - its higher dimensions are like a knife poised edge on to your perceptions. Before you can appreciate your place in this impossible scene, you are snatched back into the mundane reflexes of propagation, unaware and immediately forgetful of what you had just witnessed. A survival reflex, more than anything; the rock of Time compels all who behold it to break their skulls against it. To physically hold the past and future of Everything in one's hands, yet be powerless to shape it, is more than the human mind can take - the popping of wormcans builds to a deafening roar as the brain attempts to rearrange itself for the slow recovery.
What was that about. [?]
Donuts that leave a bad taste in the mouth, 15/09/2006
I was watching the TV last night when an advertisement for Donut King appeared on the screen. It was one of those weird drifting text and bright colours sort of ads, only moderately offensive. Or so I thought - for five seconds in the middle of this garish landscape of eye-blasting pink, none other than Pauline Hanson graced the screen, endorsing the fine doughy goodness. Then the ad continued for a while as though nothing had happened...
It took a little while for me to process this. I had to confirm with Ann that what I saw actually happened. Her face was a mixture of confusion and horror, and I needed no further proof than that...
Pauline Hanson seems a strange choice to give an endorsement. Even if you supported her, most people view her with contempt, their opinions of her ranging from idiot to criminal to racist nut.
On the same night, we witnessed One Nation founder David Oldfield alongside moderately well-known celebs on Survivor.
At what point did Hanson and her ilk achieve acceptable celebrity status? Are things so desperate that bigots behind past controversies have to be dredged up to inpsire commerce? Perhaps people have forgiven or forgotten the things that these people represent. I sure haven't.
As Ann put it, "I can't buy donuts from a white supremacist." Neither can I. I'm afraid they just don't taste very good when sprinkled with racism.
I'm really bad at this, 12/09/2006
A great period of upheaval appears to be drawing to a close, at least on the local scale. My immediate family have upped and left this fair state, for other pastures, be it Melbourne or the Northern Territory...whilst I have endured yet another house move. These things happen I suppose. My brother invited me to loot his house after his departure, as there were many things that he and Tessa did not get time to dispose of, store or Tetris into their car. It was a strange experience, picking through an empty house that still held the presence of its previous occupants. Everything about it reminded me of the events that transpired there over the years; memories like waking up on the kitchen floor after the most horrendous election party (with the hot Liberal sun shining in my eyes), brotherly backyard boxing bouts, more drinking, or just hanging around - these were all vividly replayed in my mind. The occasional relic of childhood dotted the landscape, a few in places too obscure to be seen by anyone in a hurry to get out of there. If it wasn't for the random bits and pieces scattered throughout the entire house, I doubt I would have felt much, but everywhere in there held reminders of the way of Sam and Tessa, which is something I will miss being around so often.
That said, I scored some pretty good gear while I was there, including booze, a printer, and many metres of extension cords and power boards. Some things are lost, but others are gained when things change one way or another. So although I miss my family a lot, I know that the times we are together will be all the more incredible.
That's all I can say at this time,
Mayday - the final doom of the Underverse, 01/05/2006
The Underverse is officially dead. It has been wiped off the face of the planet. Now the site is just a placeholder for the domain name, an address which was once the gateway to a bold new future. Only its rotting corpse remains today, in the form of disassociated articles that were cached by Google when the Underverse was in its prime.
It is a strange thing to watch a dream develop, feeding off the toil of the inspired, then to see it topple into the dust from which it emerged. The ghost of the Underverse will eventually be exorcised from the Interweb, but the circumstances and times surrounding it are things that won't be forgotten by those involved.
I have heard humans speak of the Underverse with fond remembrance, of the crazy creative blasts that we as a community would unleash upon our growing sphere of influence. Yet the same people are unwilling to take part in recreating that amazing insanity. This nostalgic defiance is infuriating, and reeks of laziness. However, it is understandable - people invested a lot of themselves in the Underverse. To have the plug pulled on them was a breach of trust and a slap in the face of their hard work and dedication. It's difficult to break down these kinds of barriers, but it is worth trying. I saw how the Underverse inspired people. Building a similar atmosphere with Mindcloud is crucial to its success in improving the lives of everyone.
Anyhow, that's enough for today.
RIP UNDERVERSE 22/02/2005 - 01/05/2006 Damn the Earth Government
Version 6.2, 24/04/2006
The time has come for yet another incremental upgrade of my adaptive-organic supercomputer software.
My recent trip to Sydney brought about the need for an update. Hours of walking in solitude along the good old paths gave me ample time for thought. Not the usual everyday consideration of all that is, which is all too often disrupted by the need to get off the bus or something else...this was sustained thinking over several days, enough time for it to reach a crescendo. Just as I explored the city, so too was my mind surveyed - all stones were picked up and looked at from every possible perspective. It had the effect of making me look like a shambling madman, my beard completing this fanatical appearance.
To add fuel to this fire, vivid memories were being unlocked at every location I went to. More like technicolor than faded recollections, the past was being superposed over the present - I could see events playing out as they did several years ago. The amazing thing was that these memories had been unaffected by the passage of time - they were safely stowed away in some corner of my brain without my knowledge. Every time I stumbled through a place of personal historical significance, a flood of memories was triggered. Recollections seemed to pour out of every street, until all of those memories had been kicked back into my standard thought processes.
It wasn't the usual sort of nostalgia you get from visiting old stomping grounds. That usually manifests itself as fond familiarity and a tale told if anyone is around to hear it. This was a gripping, soul-shaking experience, and I wonder if it has anything to do with my attempt to destroy Time a couple of weeks ago.
The upgrade to v6.2 was necessary to avoid Freaking Out.
Until next time,
TRISTAN
Entry the First, 16/01/2006
Deadlines
Like many idiots, I was taken by surprise when it was 'suddenly' January 2006, and all those various deadlines that seemed so far away at X-Mas are now looming. I have thousands of things that I'm doing in the non-working times, and I had this impression that I could bring them all to some sort of completion/stability before the end of January, 2006AD - the start of Uni...
There's a website to consolidate, a language to learn, a textbook to ingest, a band to revive and an army to paint, to name just a few. It's not like I've been procrastinating on any of these things, either! There just isn't enough time to settle them all...and I'm not prepared to destroy myself by trying a polyphasic sleep pattern. Instead I'll probably destroy myself with late nights, early mornings, poor hygiene and a terrible diet, with dire consequences for all around me.
Infestations
Since the moth infestation of Black Forest, in early 2005, I haven't experienced the pure entertainment of a full-blown animal plague. That was, until 'summer' arrived, bringing with it a host of surplus invertebrates. For instance, a smashed-out window of my car affords mosquitoes budget accommodation during the nights, and when I turn on the fan in the morning, the insects pour out of the vents. It's a new take on the words 'insect spray' if nothing else.
Apart from the mozzies and thousands of flies, the outdoor regions of my house play host to an ecosystem made up entirely of spiders, and the occasional wasp. It wasn't always that way...I remember more insects, particularly moths a few months ago.
The pigeons are becoming a nuisance. They were kind of amusing at first, nesting on the tops of the chimneys, crapping down into the fireplaces. This all changed when I found one of them on top of my curtain rod, dropping its virus-laden wastes all over my pillows, guitar, sheets and all other surfaces in a metre radius of the bird. Extraction was a time consuming process, eventually I used its stupidity against it and tricked it into riding outside in a box. This incident has highlighted the need for a gun in the house.
Meanwhile, my pet insects are working as hard as they can to generate their own infestation. Now that they've mated, I'm expecting the beginnings of hundreds of eggs within a fortnight...if you want some of these, just let me know.
Information
I just finished reading a chapter about Thomas Edison vs Nikola Tesla, in a book entitled Acid Tongues and Tranquil Dreamers, by Michael White. The book is all about rivalry between scientists, bitter feuds and terrible deeds that fuelled the advancement of science and technology...
Anyhow, I found out that Thomas Edison, although inventive, may have been a hack and an amoral bastard to boot. According to White, the electric chair was invented at the height of an Edison campaign to prove to the public the deadliness of AC electricity, a rival technology that Tesla and backers were attempting to sell to the public. In the process of trying to discredit the rival to his problematic DC system, many dogs were also electrocuted to death at public meetings. Most of these were elaborately staged PR spectacles with little science behind them.
Interesting reading, anyway. I'll have to cross-check with other accounts before I completely launch into an Edison smear campaign though.
